Loreen Pantaleone is the artist and founder of The K9 Hero Portrait Project, a non-profit organization that provides commemorative paintings of military, law enforcement and other working K9 heroes to the soldiers, handlers and/or their families.
Loreen has been painting animal portraiture since 1997 in Bucks County Pennsylvania and quickly became known as “The Artist who captures pets spirits in her work”. In early 2013, after a series of tragic injuries and deaths took the lives of several K9’s in just one week, Loreen quit her job working in the financial industry and founded The K9 Hero Portrait Project. It was at this time, while working on a memorial portrait for one of our countries well known heroes, MWD Gabe K153 SSD, Loreen decided that the men and women who serve our country alongside these K9’s needed a way to memorialize their partner in a way not ever done before. She left her job of 10 years with a successful financial firm to dedicate her life to this project. Within 24 hours of announcing this new program nominations began pouring in, the first of which came from U.S. soldiers still serving with their K9 partners in the Middle East.
At the completion of each portrait, a challenge coin is created and minted with the K9’s image from their painting. These coins are then distributed with the K9’s biography including their accolades so that the general public can learn of the team’s accomplishments together.
In December 2013, Loreen’s project was featured in several print and television media outlets including an editorial in Coin World Magazine, The Press Enterprise, and Eyewitness News.
In April 2014, Loreen had a guest spot on K9 Radio to discuss the project and the recipients who she paints for. To date, it was K9 Radio’s largest audience attendance. The following June, McDowell County News wrote an article regarding the presentation of the K9 Maros portrait Loreen completed for the surviving family of Officer Jason Crisp who was killed alongside Maros in March.
In July, Loreen was asked by Mission K9 Rescue and The American Humane Association to be an honored guest to witness the congressional meeting of “Military Dogs Take the Hill” in Washington D.C. This meeting was to pass a bill to bring home the military and contract working dogs after serving their terms and was exclusive invite to those working closely within the military working dog field.
In October 2014, Loreen completed a portrait of USMC SSgt. Reckless, the war horse. Full size reproduction canvas prints now hang in the home Robin Hutton, author of “Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse”, in the Washington D.C. office of Alex Novak of Regnery Publishing and in the home of one of the last handlers of Sgt. Reckless, Art Sickler. The painting of Sgt. Reckless won the approval of the aforementioned as well as the Camp Pendleton Historical Society.
Loreen now focuses her time exclusively creating and donating these large life-like portraits to the soldiers, handlers and families of K9 Heroes to show her support of the men and women and canines who selflessly serve our country.
She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Edward, and her daughter Anais.
Loreen has been painting animal portraiture since 1997 in Bucks County Pennsylvania and quickly became known as “The Artist who captures pets spirits in her work”. In early 2013, after a series of tragic injuries and deaths took the lives of several K9’s in just one week, Loreen quit her job working in the financial industry and founded The K9 Hero Portrait Project. It was at this time, while working on a memorial portrait for one of our countries well known heroes, MWD Gabe K153 SSD, Loreen decided that the men and women who serve our country alongside these K9’s needed a way to memorialize their partner in a way not ever done before. She left her job of 10 years with a successful financial firm to dedicate her life to this project. Within 24 hours of announcing this new program nominations began pouring in, the first of which came from U.S. soldiers still serving with their K9 partners in the Middle East.
At the completion of each portrait, a challenge coin is created and minted with the K9’s image from their painting. These coins are then distributed with the K9’s biography including their accolades so that the general public can learn of the team’s accomplishments together.
In December 2013, Loreen’s project was featured in several print and television media outlets including an editorial in Coin World Magazine, The Press Enterprise, and Eyewitness News.
In April 2014, Loreen had a guest spot on K9 Radio to discuss the project and the recipients who she paints for. To date, it was K9 Radio’s largest audience attendance. The following June, McDowell County News wrote an article regarding the presentation of the K9 Maros portrait Loreen completed for the surviving family of Officer Jason Crisp who was killed alongside Maros in March.
In July, Loreen was asked by Mission K9 Rescue and The American Humane Association to be an honored guest to witness the congressional meeting of “Military Dogs Take the Hill” in Washington D.C. This meeting was to pass a bill to bring home the military and contract working dogs after serving their terms and was exclusive invite to those working closely within the military working dog field.
In October 2014, Loreen completed a portrait of USMC SSgt. Reckless, the war horse. Full size reproduction canvas prints now hang in the home Robin Hutton, author of “Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse”, in the Washington D.C. office of Alex Novak of Regnery Publishing and in the home of one of the last handlers of Sgt. Reckless, Art Sickler. The painting of Sgt. Reckless won the approval of the aforementioned as well as the Camp Pendleton Historical Society.
Loreen now focuses her time exclusively creating and donating these large life-like portraits to the soldiers, handlers and families of K9 Heroes to show her support of the men and women and canines who selflessly serve our country.
She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Edward, and her daughter Anais.
